3.2 into a 3.0???

[tery]

Am I remembering correctly that guys here said I could take the 3.2 motor out of my 93 and it will bolt up correctly to a 95 ATX?? And what about motor mounts and such, wiring etc. I will have to pay the shop to do it, but that is looking like the smartest thing to do. Now that I have the Blue 95 with hey!!!...all four cradle mounts, no holes in the floor and the MTX which is hands down more fun to drive...
feedback if you have a minute.
tks,
T

 

[TimboSHO]

Do you mean the 3.2 from your 93 into the 95 MTX?

Yes, the block will bolt in, and it depends if you want to use 3.0 accessories or not. In my 3.2 swap, i took it down the the bare block and rebuilt it using everything from the 3.0 (except block, pistons, rods, crank). There are quite a few things that have to be swapped over, so you need to find the threads detailing this process, especially if you want a shop to do it. It's not just a simple drop in.

 

[tery]

thanks Mr. Timbo, I just want to drop the entire 3.2 from ginger 93 ATX into this new 95 MTX, just bolt up the 3,2 motor to the MTX after stealing the 8 lb flywheel off the 3.0..what about the motor mounts, do they line up too??
thanks,

T

 

[rubydist]

its not quite that simple.

you will need to remove the wiring harness from both engines and put the 3.0 harness on the 3.2.

you will need to either make a custom front motor mount for the 3.2 or swap all of the accessories (a/c compressor, alternator, waterpump, ps pump, a/c compressor mounting bracket) from the 3.0 to the 3.2. if you swap accy to the 3.2, you will also need to cut off an approx 2"x2" chunk from the front heat of the 3.2 to allow clearance for the 3.0 alternator.

 

[rbruso]

Here's the thread on my swap to a 3.2 using 3.0 accessories and wiring: http://shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=126342

I tried to point out, with pictures, things that are different between the two, such as the spot that needs to be ground down on the front head, how large the gap is that is left if you keep the 3.2 oil pump, and the unexpected difference in mounting points between the 3.0 and 3.2 timing backing plates.

It is definitely doable, but it's not a "6 hours and the shop is done" experience by any means.

 

[rubydist]

I would say its an extra 2 hours if you have done it before and know exactly what needs to be done, about 4 hours if you are discovering along the way exactly what it is you need to do. That is on top of the 6-8 hours to r/r an engine book time.

 

[tery]

Oh Man, thank you guys so much for the great info, it really helps with next steps decisions. And then I would ask...What if I just use the 3.2 short block, but keep everything else from the 3.0 motor in there. Am I reading correctly that then I just have the front motor mount issue with the 3.2 block into the 3.0 engine compartment??
Thanks vm
T

 

[rubydist]

well, there is good news and bad news there too...

the good news is that if you do that, then you will be able to r/r the pistons and clean up all the carbon from the piston tops and ring grooves, which will restore any lost performance. and you will be able to easily r/r the valve stem seals so you know the oil control will be back to factory.

the bad news is that head gaskets are getting hard to find, and guys have reported issues with the ones that are still available being unreliable. so, having done all that cleanup work, the new head gaskets may fail for no good reason, and you will be getting to do a bunch of that work over.

btw, the motor mount issue is not with the block - the block externally is virtually identical. the motor mount issue is with the bracket that mounts the alternator and a/c compressor - they are different between the single belt 3.2 and the dual belt 3.0, and they put the front motor mount in a different position.

 

[tery]

THank you Fred,
As the kids say...You Rock!.
I'm just about final decided that I'm going to rent a tow bar and tow it a mile to my shop and have them determine what is really wrong, since the info from the 95 seller kid doesn't line up with what he thinks is wrong. Again he replaced the cps and the timing belt and then gets no fire to the plugs...Then says that he thinks compression is low on one cylinder because the engine isn't turning fast enough..cranking....but didn't do any compression testing.. Originally he said he thought there was a broken piston rod, but I cranked it over and I think I'd likely hear something that didn't sound right if that were the case and it doesn't, it just cranks over and doesn't fire. I haven't taken the time yet to dig in and see if there is, or if it is a fuel issue or what, But he never dropped the oil pan to see what's up, he didn't pull any plugs to check compression, I don't see coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant, and he said it was running fine and then quit. He and a friend decided it was the cps. I'm gonna ask him next why he decided that was the problem, and it may in fact have been, but if it was, replacing it correctly and the timing belt correctly shoulda solved the problem if that was the right diagnosis, I'm thinking he was wrong about what happened. Could have been the ccrm or 20 other things, and he isn't a mechanic, but has a friend who he says knows SHO, but if that's true hows come he didn't get it running... THnkas again for all your help and experience,
T

 

[jayro]

If you can do the work yourself, you may be better off $$ wise just doing the 3.2 swap into the MTX. The easiest way I found was to have 2 engine stands, put the 3.0 and 3.2 side by side and just start swapping the 3.0 stuff over. Drop the 3.2 into the MTX and enjoy.

 

[rubydist]

i bet he didn't gap the new cps right and smashed it.

 

[TimboSHO]

i bet he didn't gap the new cps right and smashed it.

That's exactly what I was going to say. I bought a SHO that someone did that on, and after fixing that, I still had to diagnose why the car REALLY quit. What a headache!